The Winding Road
by AshleyMarieHalliwell
Summary: Kirk and McCoy's academy days! Friendship!fic. How they meet again on campus and the crazy journey their friendship takes them on. Mostly angst, but with some comedic moments as well. Lots of hurt/comfort will be abounds in this story. Check it out! R/R To be on the safe side, rating given for swearing and violence.
1. Chapter 1

Despite McCoy's temperament, it was fair to say that he wasn't a violent man. He had rarely gotten into any fights throughout his life and if a situation were to arise where fighting became necessary, McCoy was more likely to go for help then hold his ground. It wasn't that McCoy was scared or that he didn't know how to take care of himself, it was just that fighting went against his very nature. He was a doctor and his hands were meant to heal, not hurt.

So when McCoy found himself sitting in a jail cell, his soon-to-be dead best friend, (if he had anything to say about it that is), sitting next to him with a shit eating grin on his face, McCoy had to stop and wonder what happened to his life.

It wasn't hard to pin point exactly when things started going crazy in McCoy's life. It started eight months ago, the day he'd defended James T. Kirk and apparently signed on to ride out the insane storm that was Jim's life with him.

That day had started out completely normally. It was a Monday which meant that the first class McCoy had to endure was Deep Space Astrophysics 101. McCoy hated that class. No matter how many times McCoy went to see his advisor and insist that he was a _doctor dammit_ not a goddamn scientist, it didn't seem to make a difference. Every cadet in the Starfleet Academy was required to take this course, and no amount of griping on McCoy's part was going to spare him the agony.

Unfortunately for him, he was just going to have to sit through this course and pray that he passed. It wasn't as if McCoy weren't an intelligent man, he considered himself of above average intelligence in fact, it was just that he and science did not mix. It would be like forcing a Vulcan to take a class in emotions- it just didn't work.

So, with the ever-present feeling of dread, McCoy walked into his DSA 101 class Monday morning and took his usual seat in the front of the classroom. McCoy tended to avoid sitting in the middle or back because that was where the younger cadets, all arrogance and smugness, sat and McCoy was really too old to put up with that crap.

That day, the professor had walked into the class and started his lecture like he always did. McCoy suffered his way through it, and when the bell rung to signal the end of class he practically sprung out of his seat in an attempt to escape the classroom.

He made it out into the hallway and then found his way blocked by a large ring of students, jeering loudly and encouraging whatever confrontation they had surrounded. McCoy rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself as he tried to shove his way through them. That was one thing McCoy hated about the academy; it was exactly like being in college again. McCoy found himself surrounded by all the stupid pranks and drama again and it really was something he had been hoping to avoid.

Apparently, that was not going to happen so McCoy elbowed his way through several younger cadets, giving the stink eye to anyone who attempted to shove him back or even looked at him the wrong way, when he finally caught sight of the altercation.

McCoy had expected to see two young cadets fighting over something stupid. He expected it to be over as soon as a teacher walked by and decided that it was none of his business. McCoy was more than happy to walk away and ignore the whole thing.

Then he caught sight of what was happening and realized how wrong he was. In the middle of the circle of students there was one cadet apparently attempting to fight off four others. And he was losing. Badly.

It wasn't for lack of trying though. McCoy only stood there and watched for a few seconds but he could see that a fire raged inside that cadet like no other and he put up a fight that would have knocked a man three times his size on their ass if it had been a fair fight.

But one of the cadets fighting this kid had a knife and the other three were doing their best to pummel him into the ground. McCoy wasn't one to get involved in things that weren't his business, but his instincts as a doctor immediately kicked in when he realized that that cadet's nose was broken, his left eye was swollen shut and one of his hands were curled protectively around his upper right arm.

"Unbelievable." McCoy muttered in irritation. "Get out of my way!" He barked at several cadets, shoving his way through the crowd once more to get to the fight. The cadets raised their eyebrows at him or shoved him forward, cheering him on and apparently assuming that he wanted to get in on the beat down.

When McCoy finally made it through the throng of students he was met with a wave of hostility from the cadet holding the small pocket knife. "You want a piece of this?" The guys asked, indicating the cadet who was still trying to fight off three guys.

McCoy drew himself up to his full height and tried to sound as authoritative as possible, despite the fact that they were the exact same rank. "Get out of here right now before I call Captain Pike and get your asses suspended!" McCoy shouted, wincing at the loud crack that came from the cadet as he was shoved to the ground and landed painfully on his hand. If the moan he let out was anything to go by, something had just been broken.

The crowd of students went silent at McCoy's threat and suddenly the four cadet's attentions were on him. McCoy tried to swallow the instinctive fear he was feeling and glared at the cadets threateningly.

The four exchanged disbelieving looks and smirked. The one with the knife stepped forward, a look of undisguised amusement in his eyes. "_You're_ threatening _me_?" He demanded, sizing McCoy up with a quick sweep of his eyes and detecting no threat.

McCoy narrowed his eyes at this and reached into his bag, wrapping his hand around one of the emergency hypos he kept there. For once, McCoy was very thankful that he was paranoid enough to carry these things around. "You're damn right I am." He growled. "I'm a doctor and that kid is officially my patient so either get out of my way or I'll make you get out of my way."

The amusement fell from the guys' eyes and he glared at McCoy, his free hand curling into a fist. McCoy was struck with a vague sense of familiarity and realized that he shared a class with this guy. Cadet Jameson, McCoy thought he was called.

"You really think you can take us?" Jameson asked arrogantly, looking at McCoy as if he were very stupid.

"Nope." McCoy said simply, whipping the hypo out and injecting Jameson in the neck before he knew what happened. He dropped to the ground instantly, out cold. It had just been a simple sedative but no one else knew that. The other three started to rush him but McCoy held out another hypo warningly, his other hand curled into a fist as adrenaline raced through his system. "Unless you want to end up like you're friend here, I suggest you beat it."

"What's going on over here?" A voice called from outside the crowd and the effect was instantaneous. The three cadets that had been looking rather fond of the idea of attacking McCoy bolted while the rest of the crowd dissipated with equal speed.

McCoy walked over to the fallen cadet and looked up, instantly recognizing his Deep Space Astrophysics professor. Never in his life did McCoy think he would ever be as grateful as he was right then to see that man. "What happened?" He asked sharply, walking over and staring down at Jameson and the other cadets' prone forms, his eyes narrowing in on the hypo still clutched in McCoy's hand. McCoy quickly rattled off the situation and the professor's expression darkened. "Very well. I will call security and have them escort Cadets Jameson and Kirk to the hospital. You are free to go, but if security has any questions I will give you a call."

"Yes sir." McCoy responded, grateful the chaos was over. He felt his body shaking as he came down from the adrenaline high and let out a long sigh. He really was too old for this shit.

Feeling as though his civic duty had been more then fulfilled McCoy was more then content to walk away from the scene and not think about it again. However, as he rose to leave Cadet Kirk's uninjured hand shot out and grasped his wrist with surprising strength.

McCoy stopped, raising his eyebrows at the cadet though he doubted he could see anything past the stars that must be dancing across his vision. "What?"

"I- can't go-" Kirk began, and then stopped as a coughing fit racked his body. McCoy had the instinctive urge to take out his tricorder and start scanning Kirk's injuries but stopped himself. He wasn't on duty right now and, despite what he'd told Jameson, Kirk wasn't his patient.

"What are you trying to say, kid?" McCoy asked, somewhat impatiently. He had other classes to get to today and tons of studying to do if he expected to survive the semester. It was the second semester of his first year and McCoy hated to admit it but he was already falling behind, and having to waste time intervening for something like this really didn't help him any.

"No hospitals." The Cadet finally spat out, his voice firm despite its shaky undertones.

McCoy frowned, wondering if Kirk had some kind of concussion. It was highly possible considering the state of his face and the number of blows he must have taken to the head. "Don't worry, medics will be here soon." McCoy tried to say reassuringly, his voice gruff as he tugged on his wrist. Kirk held on with an iron grip and McCoy sighed, wondering how long it was going to take those freaking medics to get there.

The Cadet didn't appear assured by this in the slightest and shook his head frantically, then groaned at the pain that action caused. "No." He insisted, struggling to sit up.

"Whoa, are you out of your damn mind?" McCoy exclaimed, looking around for the professor but he had gone off to call medical and security a few minutes ago. McCoy sighed in aggravation and pushed against Kirk's shoulders, forcing him to lie back against the floor again. "You have to wait for help, you probably have a concussion."

"Leave m' alone." Kirk muttered awkwardly through his swollen mouth, finally letting go of McCoy's wrist in favor of shoving his hands away so he could sit up.

McCoy let him go for a second, figuring that he would just fall on his ass again and solve McCoy's problem anyways but his expectations were proved wrong for the second time that day. Not only did Kirk manage to sit up, he then proceeded to clamber onto his feet where he swayed unsteadily for several seconds before McCoy's reflexes kicked in.

McCoy shot up, grabbing Kirk just in time as his knees gave out. Kirk swung an arm over McCoy's shoulders and leaned on him heavily, his breathing distressed. "Hey... I know you." Kirk panted after a moment and McCoy grunted, shifting his bag slightly and pulling Kirk closer before he fell on his face.

"Really?" McCoy asked sarcastically, largely uninterested. He glanced up and down the hallway again; really wishing the medics would hurry up and sedate this guy already so he could move on with his day.

"Bones." Kirk said simply and McCoy frowned in confusion.

"Sorry kid but you have me confused with someone else." McCoy said easily and Kirk tried to shake his head, then realized that was a terrible idea and stopped. He didn't speak for a few seconds, trying to quell the nausea rising in his throat.

"McCoy, right? You told me on that shuttle that all you had left was your bones." Kirk explained. His sentence was a little slurred but McCoy caught the drift of it and frowned, an indistinct memory of that conversation popping up.

"You're James Kirk?" McCoy asked incredulously. Jim tried to grin at him but the movement caused him to wince and the smile fell flat, turning into something more similar to a grimace.

"The one and only." Jim said brightly and McCoy shook his head. Considering the first time he met Jim the man had been covered in bruises, this really shouldn't have come as a surprise. McCoy muttered something indistinguishable under his breath and Jim's voice turned more somber as he said, "Seriously. I can't go to the hospital."

"Why the hell not?" McCoy demanded with a fair amount of irritation. He had an unpleasant feeling that his day was about to become complicated. Jim didn't respond for a few seconds so McCoy sighed and said, "Look James-"

"Jim."

"Jim. You just got your ass kicked by four guys. You're bleeding, your nose is broken and you probably have a mild concussion. You need medical attention." McCoy tried to explain patiently, though he had never been a man known for his patience.

"No I don't." Jim refuted firmly. "Bones-"

"My name's McCoy."

"Bones." Jim insisted resolutely. McCoy rolled his eyes but went with it, deciding that it was useless to argue against this kid. "I can't go to the hospital. Just bring me back to my dorm. Please?"

McCoy snorted when Jim tried to send him a charming look. He mostly just looked really pathetic and Jim seemed to realize this because he frowned and tried pouting instead. One electric blue eye flickered between his brown ones intently, silently pleading with him to help him out.

After a long moment of deliberation, McCoy was finally convinced to help Jim out when they heard the medics and security personnel running down the hall. Jim's body tensed drastically and he immediately tried to pull away from McCoy. He looked like he was ready to take off running with or without McCoy's help so with a roll of his eyes McCoy reached down to grab his bag, pulled Jim's arm more securely around his shoulders and hauled the two of them out of there.

* * *

A/N: This is my first Star Trek: 2009 fanfic so I hope that I manage to portray the characters accurately and write an interesting story. I'll hopefully be updating with some frequency so... yeah, enjoy!

A/N2: This is a friendship!fic only, no slash. I'm not against slash (not by a long shot) but it wont be happening in this story.


	2. Chapter 2

Jim leaned heavily on Bones as the older man tugged him out of the academy's science building and across campus. He was barely conscious and slightly disorientated, but he was alert enough to realize that they were going the wrong way.

Jim recognized that that was his fault since he had coerced Bones into bringing him back to his dorm without bothering to tell him where he lived. Jim struggled for a few seconds to get enough air in his lungs so he could speak. "We're going the wrong way." He finally choked out. Even to Jim his voice sounded painfully raw and weak.

McCoy shot him a sidelong glance that, with only one currently working eye, Jim didn't bother to read. "No we're not." McCoy said simply, shifting Jim's around his shoulders a bit before carrying on.

Jim bit his lip to stop himself from groaning at the way his current position was tugging on the cut on his upper arm. "My dorm-" Jim moaned, pointing to their immediate left. It was a lot harder to speak while getting dragged across campus then Jim would have imagined. He was actually surprised that he hadn't been put into this position before considering the numerous fights he had already gotten into.

"Shut up." McCoy snapped. Jim flinched at the harsh tone, slightly offended. "You need to focus on breathing." McCoy said, his voice tense with the strain of lugging the young cadet across campus.

Jim took his advice and stopped talking, instead trying to focus on his breath. The second he was healed he was finding those jerks and kicking their asses. Well... if he wasn't expelled for fighting on campus again, that is.

Jim tried not to think about that daunting possibility as he was hauled into a large building that he recognized as the medical student's dorms. Everyone in Starfleet knew that medical students tended to get nicer dorm rooms then everyone else, and Jim was actually curious to see what it looked like. Of course, he would have been far more curious if he could walk properly and could see out of both eyes.

Bones reached the lift that would bring them up to his dorm and swore colorfully when he saw the sign announcing that the damn thing was out of service. Again.

They had no choice but to try to climb up the stairs. Jim was not excited about this prospect, and judging by Bones's dark mumbles he was even less thrilled.

They reached the bottom of the stairs easily enough but from there it was slow going. Jim stumbled several times and Bones had to stop to steady him, readjust his arm and then attempt to practically carry him up the stairs again. "I'm getting too old for this crap." McCoy muttered several times, causing Jim to snort, then groaned miserably in pain.

At one point, a frantic looking medical student rushed down the stairs, banging into them as he flew out of the building. Jim teetered dangerously on the edge of his step, his free arm flailing frantically in an attempt to keep himself upright. When that failed, he reached over and clung to Bones's arm, nearly taking them both down the one flight they had managed to get up.

Bones swore again and scrambled to find the railing, finally gripping onto it and giving Jim a long glare. Jim tried to shrug apologetically but the arm wrapped around Bones's shoulder prevented that so he settled for staring at the ground awkwardly until Bones was ready to start moving again.

When they finally reached the third floor both cadets were sweating profusely and Jim's entire body was shaking. He tried to concentrate on just keeping his legs beneath him and keeping his breathing even but it was a struggle that he was not having much luck with.

Bones seemed to realize that he was getting worse, or maybe he was just getting tired because he picked up the pace and they were at Bones's door less than a minute later. Bones banged on the door with his foot and his very surprised looking roommate opened the door a second later, staring at the two with wide eyes.

"Uh... Leonard, what's-?" The guy started to ask but Bones pushed past him into the room.

"He called you Leonard." Jim snickered. Bones growled and hauled him into the middle of the room, then dumped him unceremoniously onto a couch, causing Jim to hiss in pain and consider the wiseness of his last statement.

Jim shifted uncomfortably on the couch and tried to ignore the throbbing pain that was echoing in his head and his hand. His arm hurt like hell to, but he was more concerned about his head at the moment. Jim really did not want to have a concussion. He had had those before and they really sucked. He would have to miss classes for a day or two and considering that finals were coming up in a month that was not something he could afford.

"Don't just stand there!" Bones barked loudly and Jim jumped, instantly drawn out of his thoughts as his eye snapped onto Bones's intimidating figure. "Jesus Mark, go get a treatment kit!" Mark scurried out of the small living room and opened a door into one of the other rooms, emerging a moment later with a medical kit.

"You have a nice dorm." Jim commented randomly. Bones gave him an odd look, rolled his eyes, and muttered some medical jargon under his breath while he pulled out a tricorder and started running it over Jim's body.

"Shouldn't you take him to a hospital?" Mark asked, shooting his roommate a nervous glance as he set the medkit on the table in front of the couch that Bones was currently sitting on.

"Do I look like an idiot?" Bones demanded in frustration, his eyes narrowing at the tricorder results. He turned and started tearing through the medkit, taking out what he would need. "I tried to bring him but he insisted that he didn't want to go to the hospital. So it was either let him run back to his dorm and bleed to death or bring him here. You." Bones addressed Jim sharply and he struggled to concentrate on the older man's words. "I need you to take off your shirt."

Jim immediately smirked and Bones rolled his eyes again, taking out a hypo an injecting it into Jim's neck without a second thought. Jim gasped dramatically and his hands flew to the area as the eye that wasn't swollen shut went wide. "Bones!" He exclaimed in a panic and Bones rolled his eyes.

"Don't be such a baby." He said, moving forward to help Kirk remove his shirt.

"You don't understand. I have allergies-" Jim started to say, but found that talking was becoming increasingly difficult as his throat swelled up. Bones's eyes went wide as he stared at Jim in horror and he said something that Jim didn't catch. Jim couldn't seem to hear anything passed the blood rushing through his ears as he struggled to breathe.

He was wheezing painfully, his hands scrambling at his neck in a desperate attempt to draw in a breath. Black spots began to dance across his already unsteady vision and Jim felt his body preparing to pass out. This only made Jim increase his struggles and he choked as the lack of oxygen caused his brain to shut off his vision completely.

A stinging feeling on his neck entered Jim's consciousness as he teetered unsteadily in the void between the waking and unconscious world. All of a sudden, Jim's throat unclogged and his senses came rushing back to him.

Jim coughed painfully as he sucked in desperate gulps of air. He had never been so grateful for something as simple as breathing in his entire life as he continued spluttering stupidly.

After several minutes he realized that Bones had moved from the table to the couch next to Jim and was rubbing soothing circles in his back, coaching him through each breath until he regained his senses. Jim blushed in embarrassment but Bones merely ran the tricorder over him again, frowning at the results but nodding as if he had expected whatever it was he saw.

"You didn't tell me you were allergic." Bones stated. There was no accusation in his tone but Jim became defensive anyways.

"You didn't give me a chance." Jim retorted, shivering slightly. He looked down and frowned, wondering when his shirt had come off and shrugged. It wasn't like he was worried about his modesty.

Bones just shook his head at this and readied another hypo, eyeing Jim's nervous expression carefully. "Are you allergic to morphine?" Jim shook his head and Bones quickly injected him. He then took out a dermal regenerator and held it over the cut on Jim's arm for several minutes, allowing it to heal the injured skin and remove any trace of the injury. "Mind if I ask you something?" He said, putting the regenerator back in the kit and taking out some disgusting looking pale paste. He put some on a Q-tip and began smoothing it over the worst of the bruises on Jim's face.

"Shoot." Jim said tiredly.

"Why didn't you want to go to the hospital?" Bones asked, working diligently to heal Jim's face. Even with the amazing technological advances in medicine there was only so much he could do.

Jim tried to pick up the pieces of his facade and put them back into place. He smirked and said, with a touch of smugness, "I've been admitted too many times for fighting. One more time and I risk suspension or expulsion."

"Dammit Jim." Bones muttered, deciding that he had done everything he could for Jim's face and moving onto his hand. It was only sprained and Bones set about wrapping it diligently. "The first time I saw you, you were covered in bruises. Now, here we are." Bones observed, his expression darkening as he said, "You're going to get yourself killed if you're not careful."

"No I won't." Jim said confidently, barely wincing as Bones finished wrapping his hand and dug around in the medkit something else.

"Oh, really?" Bones demanded sarcastically. "And what happens when you get into a fight with four, five, six people at once and you don't have any back up. You can't win against those odds." Bones pointed out, shaking his head at the younger man's idiocy.

"I don't believe in no win scenarios." Jim said and Bones practically growled in frustration. Jim frowned at him defensively, beginning to feel uncomfortable. He never should have asked for the doctor's help but, at the time, it had been the lesser of two evils. He felt much better now, almost completely healed, and even managed to open and see out of his other eye. The cut on his arm was healed, his hand was wrapped and his bruises were all but dissipated.

Bones snorted at Jim's declaration and shook his head again, wondering why he had chosen to help this kid out when he so obviously had a death wish. "There, that's the best I can do." Bones said and Jim nodded, standing and pulling his sweat stained shirt over his head.

"Thanks." Jim said awkwardly, walking towards the door, fully prepared to walk out of this dorm and either go to bed or find a bar to hang out in for a while. It was still very early, only noon according to Bones's clock. Jim sighed and decided that he should probably just go to the rest of his classes.

"Hang on just a dang minute, where do you think you're going?" Bones demanded grumpily, walking in front of him and attempting to steer him back to the couch.

"Look, thanks for the patch up job Doc but I have classes to get to, so..." Jim tried to dart around Bones but the older man was having none of it.

Crossing his arms over his chest Bones said, "You're not leaving until I say you can. I'm the doctor here." Jim raised his eyebrows and looked ready to start arguing when Bones cut him off. "Unless you want me to bring you to the hospital so you can give a statement to security?"

Jim gave him a wicked glare for several minutes and said, "You're evil." He walked back over to the couch and flopped down on it, sulking.

Bones just rolled his eyes at the behavior and went over to the small replicator on the other side of the room. Jim considered making a run for it but Bones was shooting him suspicious looks every few seconds and he had the feeling that if he tried to run Bones would attack him with another hypospray. Reluctantly, Jim slouched down further into the couch, realizing he might be there for a while.

Bones returned with two sodas and passed one to Jim, who accepted it gratefully. His throat was dry and coarse as sandpaper. He opened the can and immediately took a long gulp. The sweet liquid soothed his throat and he sighed in relief.

"You want to tell me why those guys were after you?" Bones asked after a moment of tense silence.

"Not really." Jim admitted cheekily, taking another swing of his drink.

Bones rolled his eyes and said, "Tell me anyways."

"No thanks."

After a few minutes it became obvious that this conservation was going nowhere. Jim really disliked awkward situations and finished his drink as quickly as possible. "Can I go now?" He asked.

"Well... I guess so. If you feel dizzy or throw up then come find me." Bones said, looking slightly relieved to let him go.

"Sure." Jim muttered noncommittally, finally making his escape and slipping out the door.

Jim jogged down the staircases and walked at a leisurely pace back to his dorm room. When he finally got there he walked inside and checked his injuries in the mirror. He nodded, thankful that the worst of the bruises were taken care of and scoured his messy room for his stuff for the next class.

As Jim headed to his next class he thought about his encounter with Bones anxiously. Jim really didn't want to get suspended for fighting again, but if Bones admitted to treating him then he would be screwed. Sure, the Astrophysics teacher had seen him, but with the way Jim guessed his face looked he could pass it off as the professor making a mistake. Then it was just his word against the others. Bones's word would probably be considered the tie-breaker since he's the outsider in the whole thing, although Jim knew that his record was seriously against him in this case.

Making up his mind, Jim decided to find Bones after his classes and try to convince him to cover for him. It wouldn't be easy, but Jim was sure he could find a way. After all, he didn't believe in no win scenarios.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was written from Jim's perspective and the last one from Bones's. I'll be switching back and forth between the two throughout the story.

A/N2: I'm not getting any reviews for this story. If there's something I'm doing wrong I would appreciate a review or even a message to tell me what that is. If I don't get any reviews after another day or two I'll just take this story down.


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